Enough

After running 315 km in January, I decided that enough was enough and opted for a rest day. Well, that is only half true as I did go for 1,000 meters of swimming this morning at Navet but at least no running as I began to feel some pain in my left foot when running around the lake last night.

 

As a long-distance runner, it is frustratingly hard to accept that improvement does not so much come from training as from resting and that the paramount concern should always be to avoid injuries. Well, I should not exaggerated, with the temperature around -10 degrees, it was not *that* hard to stay inside and instead make some salmon with extra everything.

Ten years ago

Google Photos was kind enough to remind me that ten years ago, Anna and I were out in the jungle in Thailand with Eddie who was half a year old at the time. Waiting for the pool to open, I took the picture above, knowing that in less than a week later we would all be back in the cold in Seoul were tensions were once again growing.

Endurance Challenge

Every month, Strava has a 300 km running “endurance challenge” but it has been a while since I last completed one. This month however, I am back big time, having completed the challenge with two days to spare. 

Making lunch with the “Spanish rub” that I stumbled upon at Duå, it is soon time for some Nordic skiing with the kids around Nydala but first I am looking through the 2023 race calendar, trying to decide on what races I should aim for after (hopefully) finishing Tjörnarparen 100k in two weeks’ time.

Len Renberg

Browsing the stacks of the library magazine, I was able to find a copy of the first book in the series “Fate of the universe” that made a deep impression on me as a 10-year-old. Set in a post-apocalyptic 2079 when the once-blue Earth has been turned into a radioactive wasteland, the protagonist Len Renberg sees through the empty consumerism and escapes into deep space.

Just as Gudrun Pausewang’s Die Wolke paved the way for nuclear paranoia in Germany, this book alone probably explains a lot of why I grew up as anti-nuclear as I did and also why it took so long for me to start questioning my skewed perceptions. Nevertheless, I am happy to see that Eddie is now finding the book as fascinating as I once did.

Kale soup

Waking up to -11 degrees and clear skies, I decided to skip the bike and instead run down to the school with the boys before continuing for a half marathon around town. With two weeks left to Tjörnarparen 100k, I am slightly frightened about what awaits me once I jet down to Skåne but also excited to again be able to read those magic words: “This is your longest run in Strava”.

Post-run, I will spend the day online, attending two seminars, one at noon on hybrid learning and one on what OpenAI means for our traditional forms of assessments such as take-home exams. As such, I made a warming early lunch with kale soup before signing in on Zoom.

Slippery

Since about a week, the family is back to biking. Overall, the kids have been fine with biking back and forth to school rather than taking the bus but today was definitely a challenge as many streets were completely glazed with ice.

Zin

Today I experienced my first ever workplace accident as the table I was sitting on during my lecture flipped over, throwing me in a back flip onto the floor. Luckily, I did not hurt myself too much even if my left calf and shoulder took a bit of a beating but, had the table behind been a few centimetres closer, I would have hit the back of my head which could have been far worse. As if this piece of drama was not enough, my new bicycle LED light got stolen when I was swimming at Navet. While strange on so many levels (do people who steal things really care about bicycle lights or have the energy to sell an incomplete lamp?) but I try to focus on the fact that I have now lived more than eight years in Umeå and this is the first time that anything has gotten stolen.

Anyhow, once home, I felt like making a decadent Wednesday dinner with a sinful glass of red wine from the Central Valley. Tomorrow, I will teach two classes but also organize a “movie night” where we will watch the videos that the students have created as part of the canon problem assignment this semester.

Kusin Vitamin

Yesterday morning was tense, as my sister gave birth to a son at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm and the kids got a second cousin. But all went well, and during the afternoon lectures, I was again able to focus on my teaching.

Back home after dinner, I really did not feel like going for a run but, somehow, I was able to motivate myself to head out around the lake. Though not pleasant in any way, I am still happy I did as I really do not want to start falling behind with my annual goal. 

Lilla

Looking for ideas for my political theory class exam, I started reading Mark Lilla’s “The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics”. While I intuitively agree with much of what Lilla has to say, Gabriel is absolutely right to point out some of the murky undercurrents of the liberal “panic” about identity politics.

Otherwise, Monday means back to work and time to record new videos for my students. Standing in front of my office bookshelf, I began to think that maybe it is indeed hoarding, even if it is books :-)

Atlantic Terrace Climb

A week later, and all that remain are my PRs on the looped segments of North Cornwall Ultra, including the beautifully named “Atlantic Terrace Climb”. While demanding, it is a race that has left so many memories.

Today, Anna and I went skiing with the kids around Gimonäs for the first time. Luckily, the municipality has not put out sand everywhere, so it is possible to ski on most bike paths for now. Afterwards, I topped up with 13.5 km of running along the river so that I could put another 70k-week behind me. Being joined by Justin for a bit helped with the motivation but I still have to agree with Seth that there really are no shortcuts in ultra-running. 

Four continents

This morning, I built a “Vidja” lamp from IKEA, realizing that I have built this exact white textile shade lamp on four continents by now, starting in New Brunswick back in January 2008, followed by Melbourne the same year, then Seoul and now Umeå.

Baron de Ley

For Friday night, I am serving a rioja made by Baron Trenck’s long-lost cousin together with an old-time favourite of Tuvessonskan (albeit with gnocchi rather than pappardelle), as I look back on an intensive day of running and LMS wizardry. Not only did Elin and I complete the first river run of the year, but I was also able to top up with an additional 10k around Nydala with Anna.

 

After all the storms and heavy snowfall, the sky has finally cleared up and the forecast suggests that Winter Wonderland is here to stay so tomorrow I hope to go skiing with the kids.

Gin pasta

Thursday night and the spring semester is off to a flying start. Today, I had a short break between classes, allowing me to swing by the gym for a first tempo run after North Cornwall and 5k of indoor rowing. Once back home, I used the leftover BA gin to make a spicy pasta with cream and rock chives which turned out way better than most penne alla vodka that I can remember.

Monocle

With a four-page special on the restored city hall in Eslöv (sic!) and stories from the re-emerging art scene in Baghdad, Monocle lured me into buying the December/January issue even as the bookshelves at Historiegränd are already overflowing with issues from my many years as a subscriber. Luckily, Monocle did not disappoint and neither did the Aviation Gin as I flew back across the North Sea to Sweden.

Looking ahead, my next race will be Tjörnarparen 100k in mid-February. Even if the course will probably be far less demanding than the one that I have just completed, I fear it will take me up to 16 hours to complete all those 100 kilometres, meaning that I will probably need a stronger headlamp if I am to run that many hours in darkness. While a part of me tells me that 50k is already enough to fully enjoy the landscape and the elements, something still tempts me to go on and see how far I can actually go.

Uncle Gordon

With a ferocious storm battering outside, last night’s sleep was not the best and at 5 am the alarm went off, signalling that it was time to drive back to London. Fortunately, the sky cleared up once Petra and I got underway and we made it safely to Heathrow, having driven 925 km over the last 48 hours in our red Suzuki Swift Hybrid.

Once checked in at Terminal 5, we headed over to Gordon Ramsay’s “Plane food” to celebrate with some tomato soup and a glass of Veuve Clicquot. Already tomorrow morning, teaching starts with two courses that will run parallel for the next month but at least I have some incredible photos and memories to look back on.

North Cornwall Ultra

After running South Devon Ultra just before the pandemic, I have been itching to return and explore a new part of coastal Britain. Following the sudden cancellation of North Umberland Ultra back in February last year due to a combination of Covid and the war in Ukraine, I was able to transfer my race registration to the inaugural North Cornwall Ultra which felt like an eternity away at the time.

Luckily, the day came, and joined by Petra who successfully completed the half marathon distance of the same race, I got to spend another incredible day at the Atlantic. With the rain stopping just minutes before the start in Polzeath, I was able to run the whole day without any rain. 

However, the heavy overnight rain had left the ground extremely muddy, and with gale force winds blowing in from the sea, it was an extreme challenge to make it up the hills. 

Overall, the course was fairly runnable with only a few technical sections, but the strong wind and the mud meant that it took me nearly eight hours to complete the course. 

3x London

Elizabeth Line

Taking the train into London last night on the brand-new Elizabeth Line, Brexit felt like a fleeting nightmare as the city was as welcoming and cosmopolitan as ever. Heading over to St Pancras for the customary glass of champagne next to the Eurostar, Petra and I then had a great first night out before heading back too late, only to be met by a room that was sweltering hot due to a broken thermostatic radiator valve. Oh, Britain, Britain, land of technological achievement...

Today, I started the day with a run through Hyde Park followed by a visit to N.Peal where the lovely girl working in the store knew all about David Zaritsky and the steady flow of men who have been watching too many episodes of the Bond Experience. Sadly, after the recent price hike, its Mongolian cashmere cable roll neck remains out to reach but it was nice to have tried one on.

First week

Looking back, I have been able to run 84 kilometres so far this year, meaning that I am slightly ahead of pace as I begin my taper leading up to North Cornwall Ultra on Saturday. Starting in Polzeath and following the rugged coastline towards the east, the course is about 50 kilometres with 1,900 meters of elevation gain so I expect a bit of a challenge after falling behind with my running during the autumn months.

Running across Kolbäcksbron this morning, I was all alone as the orange weather alert is apparently keeping most sane people indoors. Hopefully, training in these conditions will make the wild Atlantic feel almost like summer. Still, I have no idea how long time it will take to complete the course, but I would not be surprised if it takes eight hours or more. In comparison, it felt kind of soft to be home making pancakes already after 40 minutes today.

Uncle title

Though the jury is still out on whether I truly deserve “Uncle title”, I made a really tasty and entirely improvised chicken dish tonight to celebrate that we are finally getting settled in at History Alley. 

Paired with some Vicar's Choice Barrel Chardonnay from the South Island, I watch the snow falling outside and think of Scruton’s book on wine. On Saturday, Anna will take the train down to Växjö for some thesis seminars while I will have a surprise extra day of Christmas holidays with the kids on Monday before school starts again on Tuesday. And on Wednesday, I am off to Britain.

Reunited

After unpacking boxes all afternoon, it was finally time for me to go for a run around Nydalasjön. Having lived next to this lake for six years, it almost felt like being reunited with an old friend, despite that conditions were slightly on the cold side with a temperature of -16 degrees. To my surprise, the distance around the lake was exactly 10 km so now I no longer have to add extra meters to stay on pace with my goal of running 3,650 kilometres this year.

Having been constantly cold for months in Sävar, it is also absolutely lovely to once again have a well-insulated home powered by 100% certified nuclear electricity from Kärnfull.

Rail replacement service

Apparently, two million litres of water have flooded the railway station in Kiruna, making it impossible for trains to use the station for the time being. The probable cause of this massive leakage is seismic activity induced by the nearby iron ore mine. Thus, instead of taking the train to Umeå, we are now on a bus down to Gällivare where Norrtåg is waiting for us. With the temperature around -20 degrees, the vastness of these tracts really makes you wonder how people survived here before there was modern energy. 

For our own part, life is good with the book chapter submitted and just a few more days of unpacking boxes left until we have finished moving in at Historiegränd. For dinner last night, I made a salmon salad with sweet potatoes and feta which was much appreciated.

Faint daylight

After 22 days of polar night, a faint daylight has returned to Kiruna, accompanied by the waxing Moon and blue skies as I decided to cut short my planned half marathon to the airport. Afraid to pick up an injury this close to North Cornwall Ultra, it felt like 11 kilometres of running and 1,000 meters of swimming would have to suffice for the day as I returned to Bryggaregatan for some American pancakes. Calories out, calories in...

An der schönen blauen Donau

Listening to the classic New Year's concert from Vienna, I am recovering from 26 kilometres along snowy and windy roads. After all the logistics, we are back in Kiruna since last night where the winter remains unthreatened by the frightening rain-on-snow event that we experienced down in Umeå.

Tomorrow, I hope to do one of my signature airport runs but, for now, time to make some more black coffee and finish editing the book chapter on playfulness that Anna and I have been writing for the last month.